Mark R. Kelly
» Founder in 1997 and site-runner for 20 years of Locus Online (Hugo Award winner in 2002). Founder in 2012 and still site-runner of sfadb.com (Science Fiction Awards Database). Retired in 2012 after 30 years as a software engineer for a certain rocket engine factory.
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» Previous Views from Medina Road (2003-2013)
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- This Much is Reality… and This Much is Fantasy
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- Shocked, Just Shocked
- Continuing Our Studies of Human Nature…
- Here’s a New One: Terrain Theory
- A Little Knowledge… Is a Dangerous Thing
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Meta
Category Archives: Politics
Drag, the Abortion Pill, Blue Cities in Red States
Why conservatives are so upset by drag; The Comstock Law, an antiquated precedent conservatives use to justify things they don’t like, like the abortion pill; And how people are fleeing blue states for red states — but into blue cities.
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics
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Arguing Styles, Debates, and Winning vs. Being Right
I’ve mentioned the book RESPONDING TO THE RIGHT by Nathan J. Robinson a couple times before, and today I want to summarize the gist of the book.
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Psychology
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The Latest Political Outrages and Shenanigans
Today’s topics: Conservative outrage (so easily triggered) against Bud Light; Anti-democratic shenanigans in Tennessee, and the backlash; and how Tennessee places last among all states on democracy, and crushes dissent; About Republican indoctrination; MAGA’s worst week ever; How Medicare expenditures … Continue reading
Rules of Law, and Gods, and Politicians
Topics in this post: How MAGAites think their god (Trump) is above the law, with wise insights from John Scalzi; how Republicans want the dumbest parents to control school curricula; the link between white supremacy and anti-abortion politics; how owners … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Religion
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Regressions
Topics in this post: Why do “parents’ rights” only seem to involve requests to suppress and ban? The power of a single conservative snowflake. Undermining democracy. An authoritarianism quiz. Phony scandals. Banning non-existent vaccine microchips. Religion as the solution to … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Religion
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Negative News, Conspiracy-Minded Customers, Conservative Traditions
Three items for today. How the negativity bias in news reporting is partly a matter of demand and supply; How “the customer is always right” thinking leads Fox News and Republican congressmen to pursue outlandish conspiracy theories, because that what … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Psychology
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How Much News Is Too Much News?
Today: that debate, my own news consuming habits, and the negativity bias. Then: more about wokeness, and the relationship between conservatism, liberalism, wokeness, and equality; and between teaching values and indoctrination. The Atlantic, Shadi Hamid, 13 Mar 2023: You’re Better … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics
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Liberty and Freedom vs. Conservatives
About the notion of liberalism; the panic among White Christian nationalists; a book about the John Birch society, which anticipated the modern MAGA movement; and examples of conservatives’ opposition to liberty and freedom. Let’s start with this short video by … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics
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To Conservatives, Woke Seems to Mean Whatever They Don’t Like
So my take on wokeness, a couple weeks ago, as a “perhaps exaggerated respect for the sensitivities of others,” is not what most others mean by “woke.” To some conservatives, it means anything they don’t like or want to acknowledge, … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Politics, Psychology, Social Progress
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Narratives, Vanity, and Empathy
A writer named Alissa Quart has a new book out, Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream, that challenges the American myth that one can “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” to succeed all on your own. It’s a fantasy … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology
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